Thursday, 4 March 2010

Architecture sem 1 ( 3 concepts )

We were asked to design a house + studio
for a celebrated architect of our own choice in a given site.
The architect I chose as my client was Hundertwasser

and the site given was zonqor point.
Below where the initial 3 proposals for the dwelling.

Concept 1
UFO*
Unidentified futuristic object
When I went on site I could feel emptiness. The site is filled with plants, beautiful sea, and
interesting micro areas, but on a whole there was something missing. There needs
something which cleanses all the bad activities in the area. Like bird hunting on the street
and seashore, and from the people who dumb their rubbish in the area.
In the site further up there is pillbox (built by the British) and a tower of De Redin (built
when the Knights were here). So the building that has to be proposed has to confine with
this time line.
Knights, British, Contemporary/Future.
Hundertwasser was in a sense Futuristic with his Organic ideas at his time. It is now that
we are realizing in what a bad state our planet is that we are thinking more on how to be
green, more with the political aspect of it, since the idea has been with us for a long time.
The building has to show as if it is of today, or came today from tomorrow, with the real
answers to the problem. Now it is not the Pirates or the Turks we need to build a tower to
watch, but to watch ourselves from our own evil.
Also introducing the UFO*, unidentified futuristic object, will attract attention to the place
and will remove the dodgy activity, and hopefully bring new people to appreciate the little
intact nature there is, and why not introduce more vegetal and animal life.
UFOs Unidentified Flying Objects, where noticed most of the times in remote villages, or
unheard of towns. We never heard of a UFO sighting in New York, London or Rome. It
seems that either the Unknown likes quite places, or that the Forgotten Areas need the
Unknown to come so as to attract attention on them. Zonqor is one of these forgotten
areas, and maybe it needs this radical intervention. Hundertwasser was a man who
wanted attention on him and his ideas. This building would reflect this too.

Concept 2
Illusion / Illumination
Summary of
Concept
A house that would stand out but emerge from site, a house that will be in harmony with
site and the Architect’s beliefs, but will also challenge them. The building will be detached
from the ground (heavenly), but connected to it with straight lines (evil). It has to be
Organic not only in the aesthetic sense but also in its function and behavior. It will
enhance the area to make it more accessible the public.
Detailed explanation of derivation
Hundertwasser said that the straight line will cause the downfall of humanity, and that
the straight line is the tool of the devil.
When I went on site, I tried to search for straight lines in nature, because he also said that
there is no evil in nature, therefore there had to be no straight lines in it.
There was a spider web which appeared to be constructed in straight lines, the horizon,
the different strata in rocks seemed to be perfectly straight. The sunrays that the sun
produced from behind the clouds. The rain fall (gravity). The lines that I constructed with
my eyes between different starts in my mind (natural process), and the bees which think
in coordinates, therefore in straight lines.
When I went home to study them I realized that straight is what appears and is not the
physical reality.
The sunrays appeared to be straight lines, but if you give a deeper look to it, you realize
that in fact it is in wave form, curvature, and also physical particle.
The horizon which look straight from between rocks is in fact a curve when you see the
whole object, Earth.
If Straight lines are evil and from the devil, Good is curve and from God.
This can be paralleled also to gravity, Newton said that gravity is in a straight form, he
noticed this when an apple fell on his head, we also know that it was the apple in the
genesis that fooled Adam and Eve in the acquisition of true Knowledge. Therefore here we
notice that the devil used the same tool (apple) to fool humans, because Newton was not
fully right, and gravity is in actual fact curved.
What we can observe is that the straight line is an illusion, not a reality, not a copy of
nature. The curve is of a deeper insight (knowledge) and therefore it is true.
In architecture there is nothing wrong with the use of straight lines, only when one knows
that they are an illusion, not a reflection of reality, an illusion of nature or a copy of an
illusive nature governed also by evil forces. Since nature is not perfect, like us humans. In
this I think Hundertwasser was wrong because he said “there are no evils in nature- there
are only evils of man” man is of nature and in nature too, animals act just like humans
and humans like other animals in most aspects.
There should be reason (a human ability) for the usage of straight lines and it is not
homage to evil; it is just an acknowledgement of the lack of knowledge, growth and
wholeness of today’s humanity. So as to pass a massage or create a feeling with your
building.
Dwelling
Hundertwasser had this sort of knowledge, so the house I am proposing for him has to
show all this.
The volume of space where he will have all the needs to live will be elevated in a form of a
cloud, since it is a source or filter to make visible sunrays and a source of precipitation,
gravity. It is also a heavenly object, elevated, but still connected to the land for the actions
I mentioned above. The cloud is also made out of water, same as the spray of the waves
when the sea hits the land, a mirror of what happens on land and is in fact a process of it.
The cloud/house is supported on straight lines as to say that there has to be a process, to
achieve this, the over coming of the illusive things around us. Hundertwasser used to
preach his manifestos naked and make resistance to those who did not believe in the same
as principles he believed in. In this way, an outstanding building will make people ask
about the building and who lives there.
Also this process of from ground going up, to a higher dimension, is a similar process of
when you enter the site. If you enter the site from M’scala, which is an architectural hell,
to slowly entering the site, until you reach an area where the sea is protected and people
can swim, there is land where you can be playful in and make use, not infested by hunters
and rubbish, and there is an architectural monument, which is the watch tower of De
Redin. The process, the effort is important as to appreciate more what you find once you
are there. The effort may not be a physical one.
The cloud has to show and pass a massage to the passer by of this symbolism, I am
suggesting a room on top of this ‘cloud’ in a Pyramidal form. This was used by an
inspiration of Hundertwasser, Gustav Klimt who used to dress his women in paintings
whit Eyes in Triangles, who he took from the Egyptians, the all-seeing eye of Horus. The
Christians then enclosed it in a Triangle to represent the holy trinity. After that the free
masons used it to represent God as the Architect of the universe. Here I want to use it as
to Hundertwasser’s Open Eye as an Architect and artist to this knowledge, and that we
all have to open our eyes and realize that not all that looks straight is evil, and we have to
give a deeper look and understanding to what is around us. I can also add that there is
always more to learn and understand as in fact Hundertwasser had much more to learn;
therefore this room will not symbolize the acquisition of something, but a statement that
we will always search for more.
The studio in which he will pass most of the time will be semi berried underground, the
roof will be open to public use. The side will enjoy the views of the north part of the site
and the sea view, with his, ‘cloud’ house as part of the landscape. It is there living,
collecting water by wind, naturally and dropping it again. In Malta it is rarely raining, rain
was one of Hundertwasser’s main inspiration so he can always look outside and see rain if
he wishes, which will constantly produce a rainbow in summer.
Public space:
Since it is elevated the area beneath the building can be used by the public. Land can be
enjoyed by everyone, and it can be made more interesting.
Since the location of the building is not a very safe place to swim I am proposing to
enclose an area around the building that would be suspended over the sea where people
could swim safely with and around the pillars. Hundertwasser always wanted to make
even private apartments open to the public, like the rooftops he connected them to the
land as to be used by everyone. In this way, we will give the Footprint of the dwelling to
the public to use.
**Information about Hundertwasser was taken form the publication of his Manifestos in
the book : Hundertwasser Architecture ISBN 3-8228-8564-9

Concept 3
Octopus
The site is used as a dumping area, by hunters to kill birds, by motorcyclists who have
no respect to what they are driving on, and a notorious place for nocturnal night
activities.
The introduction of the Octopus which represents new life, an eternal life to
something which is dead or has the culture of death in it.
The Octopus has all the characteristics to be able to cleanse the place and promote
something good. As in its natural habitat, the sea, it is found living in a hole most of
the time next to a ‘dumping site’ of shells and exoskeletons. And that is what the site
needs, a good clean up from all the bad energy that there is and bring out the good
features it has, make it more accessible and known to people. Hundertwasser liked to
reuse material for his constructions, as if giving life to dead objects again, and the
parallels of the octopus’s characteristics are the same with Hundertwasser’s Catholic
faith.
Why the octopus?
As in the introduction, the site is close to the sea, and in the see you can observe that
where you find a cemetery of shells and exoskeletons you will most of the times find an
octopus.
Where there is death you find life.
Life, as in the Octopus. If one studies further the Octopus as a creature and as a living
thing in a habitat one will notice these things:
· The octopus can polarize light, light which is a wave form, a curve, Hundertwasser
said that the straight line is evil, therefore the curve is good, and the octopus has
the ability to control (polarize) the curve, the good.
· When it is given objects or it wants to play, it puts the object in a circular form. A
non liner shape, non evil. A whole shape, a circle which was connected to the
divine for most medieval scholars, and many believed that there was something
intrinsically "divine" or "perfect" that could be found in circles. In architecture the
circular plan was considered to be Ideal.
· Has 8 tentacles, 8 is the eternal number, representing the eternal life, the beyond
time for Christianity. For the Mormon faith, children have no sin before the age of
8, and it is the atomic number of Oxygen that there would be no life without.
· If you cut an octopus tentacle while it is still alive, the tentacle will continue
moving as if it will continue to live after life.
· It has no skeleton, will leave no trace, representation of the soul.
The octopus has 3 hearts.
The Roman Catholic faith is about the holy Trinity, of Father, Son, and holy spirit that can
be seen in the unique characteristics of the octopus. Represented by the heart Trinity.
The Father, is represented by the Brain of the Octopus, which is problem solving and is
the most intelligent invertebrate.
The Holy Spirit is represented by the physical feature of a beak, similar to that of
Birds, Pigeon as the physical form of the Spirit represented in the bible.
And the Son Jesus, who had to die to give eternal (8) life to humans, in the same way
the octopus dies after having sex, as to say, it has to die to give life.
In few words, the Octopus is the divine soul of the site.
Hundertwasser used the Trinity to compare the Tenant, Builder and Architect, that should
be the same person.
The Building
Octopus
· The building can either remind us of the Octopus in its form.
· It can either be an idea, as in giving eternal life to what is present on site, like the
dumping, re using building debris. Tiles that there are on site, and huge stones
that where put there can be used for a proper landscaping of the site.
· It can also be the shape that the octopus does, the circular assembling of objects.
· It can be the fact that it lives in holes.
· Or that it has no physical skeleton. Building can be changeable non-determined.
· Some octopuses have the capability of changing colour, to camouflage. The
building may have this ability too.

Concept/ Idea
Organic death
Death of something can mean life for another
… … I have noticed that sometimes these shells or skeletons
would be habited by smaller animals or vegetation. Showing that even after death
these creatures give life to others by giving them protection. And the smaller
creatures do not need to worry to construct shelter, but they find it ready. The same
thing might apply to humans which by looking at the site we find rubble walls that
where constructed with stones found near the wall had to be built. This can be
further maintained when Hundertwasser reused old building material to build new
buildings.
Therefore we can apply this further to architecture that organic architecture is not just the
form, or just inspired by nature, be sustainable, healthy, conserving, and diverse, like
Hundertwasser preached and built. But it also has to remind us of the living, that a house
is also living in a sense (non in the scientific definition), exposing all the servicing, piping
and wiring designed in a good way, as if you are inside one of the simple shell organisms
you find at the sea. Which most of them you can see the wiring and piping, (vanes and so
on) from the outside due to their translucent flesh. It might look industrial, but I think
industrial is a bit organic too, when it does no harm the original environment and human
dignity. Not just the look of it, pipes and tunnels that can resemble a human (organic)
digestive system for instance but also the process, if we have the knowledge and capability
to alter something in a way that can help us live better in a sense it is still a natural
process.
The exoskeletons or shells found still mostly intact even after considerably strong currents
and movement at the bottom of the sea are made up of calcium carbonate.
The same material that our limestone is made out of the same ‘shell’ that we live in. We
can also produce limestone, with concrete using shells and exoskeletons of marine life
that is always being renewed naturally.
The exoskeleton is also responsible for various tasks that can be applied to
architecture:
Protection: A building has to be able to protect the people using it from unwanted natural
elements, or is able to alter them as so to be used by humans for their needs.
Excretion: the building has to be conscious of the things that he is excreting, like water,
drainage, heat, fumes, garbage, radiation etc. For example the building has to be able to
treat his drainage suitably on its own and use it again to water plants for example. The
building has to have place for garbage separation. The heat that goes out of the building
could be collected, the water used in kitchens and baths can be collected filtered and
reused. Also it has to reduce the bad excrements like CO2, by filtering it with plants for
instance.
Sensing: The outside elements have to be sensed by the building and made good use of
them. Feels the rain, closes windows, and opens the water collectors, in summer it closes
windows when there is a hot breeze and stops the air conditioning and opens the windows
when there is a cold breeze. Can be able to alter when there is noise and we do not want
to hear it, when we are sleeping for example.
Support: The structure has to support itself independently of what there is inside it, and
has to then support what there is inside too. This is not essential in a building but can be
of aesthetic interest.
Feeding: A building feeds on electricity and water. Therefore the structure has to be able
to collect energy from the elements around it, light, heat, wind, movement. And it has to
be able to collect water, from rain falling directly onto it, that meets the ground around
and underground.
Each of our buildings has to have these characteristics being inspired from a
shell/exoskeleton or not. Then our building would not only look organic and as if it is
living but will actually be an independent body.
We can also learn from these found dead objects how to do joints, and movement in our
buildings.
Door hinges can be round like the joints in a crab’s arm. There is no need to be linear
when dealing with mechanical joinery, nature has been working on evolution for millions
of years; most of the things came out to be practical.
Or the Door can slide sideways like the walk of a crab to maximize the space.
The whole dwelling can move, not on wheels but with pillars on spheres like the sea
urchin does.
Sea urchin & death
The sea urchin is surrounded with spines, straight lines. That hurt, that are evil for the
others but also evil because they are straight. When it dies these fall out, and the
exoskeleton is left without them. As if the death is a cleansing process, removes the evil
before it gets to a new life.
The site is reminiscent of this. Now is the time, after it has this dying process, of waste
being dumped in it, and forgotten by people, to give it straight less lines, and good new
life.